Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, NOV. 30, 1922. REDS APPEAL TO LIBERALS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2512, 30 November 1922, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, NOV. 30, 1922. REDS APPEAL TO LIBERALS.

THE Labour candidate's appeal for Ihe Liberal voles ;il llio forthcoming polls in favour of his eandidaluje and llio Labour parly at Tuesday night’s meat in" was almost pa - tlielio. Tlio claim in support ilial tlit? Rods arc building on llio foundations of Ballanee and Soddon was the roileralion of llio solf-samc ulternnoes of Messrs Holland and McCombs from the same platform at an earlier date. Ballanee ami Soddon, forsooth, were lirsl and foremost loyalists and Imperialists, aye, fo the finger tips—men who stood valiantly for the British Constitution and th( j welding of the Empire by an indissoluble bond. Can it be said, by the widest stretch of imagination, that the Labour Party which, for the time being, has withdrawn its claws on the eve of nil election, is Imperialistic? I- it prepared to gain its ends constitutionally/ Surely (Mr T. Seddon, the Literal candidate for Westport, would join issue with this Party if there was a suggestion of affinity between the Labour Party’s policy and that of the Liberal Party led by his late father. Yet we find the son of Richard .John Seddon in absolute opposition to the Labour Party and with a Labour candidate against him! We have failed to lim'l a Liberal candidate who would pledge his support to a Labour no-con-fidence vole to mist the Government in favour of the Reds —not one. The old-time Liberals cannot be so!fitsoaped by the false claims of Labour. The illusory and revolutionary platform of the Beds, >o cunningly sugared may fool a certain class who will not think for themselves but it will no I go down with the old Liberal supporters, a majority of whom throughout, the Dominion have joined forces with the Reform Party in order to assure a stable Government in this, the in *-:t critical period of the Dominion’s historv.

THE LAND QUESTION. THE local Labour candidate, like liis leaders, holds very vague ideas on the land t|iie-l uni. The conversion of the fifcehold tenure to State control and leasehold would be marvellous in the transformation period—BUT WHAT AFTER ? It is quite interesting to hear a Labour candidate mention land taxation or any aspect of the land question. The farmers will he interested to learn how Labour propo-e.-, to lax them. Will *il use the graduated land tax to hurst up big estates or to obtain revenuef And if the big estates are broken up by heavy taxation, where will the land' taxes afterwards come from, from the small farmer? And when all land is owned by the Stale in pursuance of t bo Labour plan of expropriation (no land to be sold or transferred except to the State) who will pay the taxes? For more than a hundred vents economists (and Governluenls) have been searching lor a system of taxation which will be just, equitable, not destructive oi industry and enterprise and will stay where it is put. These “experts” on land settlement make statements which tickle the ears of the unthinking!

DEFIANCE OF THE A KSITUATION COURT. THE Labour candidate in his address overlooked any reference to the attempted shipping hold-up by the Seamen’s Union in defiance of the Arbitration Court.' Why? MR MASSEY —A GENTLEMAN. “AIR MASSEY is a gentleman,” said the Labour candidate. A gallant admission. Would a gentleman be guilty of crushing the poor or distressed? How ridiculous! Air Massey lias a. far wider compassion for the masses and a genuine desire for their happiness and prosperity, deeper and broader than was.ever conceived by the extremists.